Abstract only

For more than 80 years since its foundation, Giumri breeding station has been engaged in winter wheat germplasm evaluation, breeding and primary seed multiplication. The station is situated on plateau at 1570 m above sea level (40°48' N, 43°50' E) in the ad- ministration centre of Shirak region of the Republic of Armenia, 1.5-2 km to the north-east from Giumri. The region belongs to the temperately cold, arid agro-climatic zone. Climate is dry, continental, with hot summers and cold winters. In January- February the temperature could drop down to as low as 30-37°below zero. The warmest months are July-August (+ 15°C). The late spring frosts end in the late May-early June. The early autumn frost is observed in the 3'd decade of August and in the beginning of September. Average number of frost- free days is 136, number of days with snow cover 94, annual precipitation is 459 mm; the mean annual temperature is +6.2oC. Soils of the region, where the station is situated, are mountain black mildly alkaline, with pH being equal to 7.0- 7.3 and the content of humus to 2.7-3.2%. Soil is loamy by its mechanical com- position. The height of snow cover in winter reac- hes 27-30 cm. Sometimes, because of low snowfall at the beginning of winter, winter wheat may over- winter uncovered. However, owing to its good adaptation, it copes with the problem rather well. Since its establishment, the team of the breeding station has developed and introduced into production over 30 varieties of agricultural crops, including winter wheat varieties Zarda, Karmir slfaat, Leninakanskaya 3, Almargarit and Lenina- kanskaya 5. Some ofthe varieties developed by the station predominate in the farming areas of the republic. Armenia is a land-poor country, with only 0.16 ha of agricultural land per capita, of which rainfed land prevail. Due to the above, the republic has never managed to fully satisfy its population with bread products of own production. Wheat area in Armenia makes approximately 80000 ha, 90% of it being sown to winter, or 16% of the total cropland area of the republic. Approximately the same area is sown to spring wheat and barley. Both the limited areas and poor yield do not allow for increasing the gross production of grain and to meeting the population 's needs in bread. As a result of a hasty land privatization, 331 thousand subsistence farms with only 0.5-1.5 ha of agricultural land have emerged in the place of 850 well-organized and large state farms. Obviously, such small patches of land cannot utilize advanced fanning machinery and ensure high productivity. At present, in order to eliminate the abovementioned constraints, 420 farms have been organized in the republic, which provide 15% of gross agricultural products. The positive example of such farms opens the way to a voluntary con- solidation of subsistence farms and facilitates em- ployment of scientifically grounded and approved crop management practices. It is well known that under conditions of ad- vanced management, winter wheat can yield from 8 to lO tons of grain per hectare. The results of the winter wheat variety trial carried out at the Giumri selection station in 1987 -1989 serve as evidence of the above. The presented data convincingly indicate that the winter wheat varieties developed at the Giumri selection station successfully compete with such famous variety as Bezostaya 1. Despite the well-known difficulties of the last decade, the station has managed thanks to its selfless labor to preserve the whole germplasm and to con- duct breeding and seed-multiplication work under the approved methodology. At present, the station is the only in the republic institution providing local fanns with the elite material of agricultural crops, including winter wheat.

English

0409|AGRIS 0401|AL-Wheat Program

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection